


Start Swingin!

by bejesusness



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Ryan Evans is a Badass, This is just really short, i dont know how to advertise it, sorry for the clickbait-y summary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26784346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bejesusness/pseuds/bejesusness
Summary: When Ryan is up against three beefy goons in the parking lot, Chad rushes to his rescue. He would never have expected what happens next.
Relationships: Chad Danforth & Ryan Evans, Chad Danforth/Ryan Evans
Comments: 23
Kudos: 376





	Start Swingin!

**Author's Note:**

> been obsessed w/hsm again lately and i noticed there's a good amount of fics here where ryan gets beat up (or worse) and like... okay. But consider THIS:

Basketball practice was over for the day, but Chad Danforth was still at school. He realized at the last minute that he forgot his assigned reading in his locker and had to go back to pick it up or else risk a failing grade in English. And for senior year especially, that was just not an option. 

As he strolled through the hallway, he glanced out the window. Then, once he registered what he was seeing, he pressed his face against the glass. Yes, that was Ryan Evans, seemingly stopped on his way to his car, surrounded by three mean looking guys, each of them visibly well-muscled, even beneath their letterman jackets. 

The lead antagonist took a menacing step forward. Ryan raised his hands placatingly in front of him and took a step back. Chad took the nearest stairwell two steps at a time and nearly landed on his face in his hurry. 

He launched himself out the door and sprinted across the parking lot, only vaguely aware of Ryan headbutting one guy in the nose, then turning immediately to dodge a blow from the next one. That one, Ryan kneed twice in succession and finished off with an elbow to the throat. Once Chad finally got within range, luckily approaching from the enemies’ blind spot, he whacked the final goon upside the head and spat at him, “Get the fuck outta here. What are you doing?” 

There was a moment of silence as Ryan and Chad watched the three of them run away.

“Hey, Chad,” Ryan said, turning toward him with a smile, much too casual for the situation at hand. “What are you doing here?”

Chad ripped off his backpack and let it drop to the ground as he caught his breath. “Well, I  _ thought _ I was going to be brawling in the parking lot, but I guess you had that part covered, huh?”

There was a slight change in Ryan’s tone when he replied, “What, upset you didn’t get to protect my honor and save me from the evil homophobes?”

“Amazed, more like. Ryan, those guys were huge. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Ryan relaxed at the praise (and the awestruck look Chad was directing at him). “Mom’s had Shar and I take self-defense classes since we were little.” At Chad’s continuing astonished stare, Ryan decided to elaborate. “My family’s got money, Chad. Anyone can tell from the clothes, the car, the attitude. Mom wanted to make sure we could survive a mugging.”

Chad’s face finally began to fall as he put the pieces together. “That wasn’t a mugging, though, was it? It wasn’t about money.”

Ryan sighed. “It never is for me. But the skills still work the same in any kind of fight.”

“This happen often?” Chad couldn’t help but ask.

“There’s always some freshman jocks at the beginning of the year who get it in their heads to beat up the queer to assert their dominance or something. But once I take out the first couple, word spreads and no one else usually tries anything for the rest of the year.”

“Damn,” Chad replied, not knowing what else he could possibly say to that. Then he noticed Ryan holding something in his hand. “Is that a flashlight?” he asked.

“2000 lumens,” Ryan confirmed, brandishing it like a weapon. “Maybe not as effective as a stun gun, but since East High considers those a weapon, this does the job.”

So that's how he was able to subdue three attackers. At this point, Chad was so incredibly impressed—and more than a bit turned on if he was being honest—that he decided to just go for it. “You got anywhere to be right now?” he asked Ryan.

Ryan tucked the flashlight back into the side pocket of his messenger bag. “I was just gonna go home, why?”

“Alright, then,” Chad said, nodding gravely. “That settles it. I’m taking you out for ice cream. I mean, you’ll have to drive there, but.”

Ryan’s face lit up. “What? Now?”

Chad rubbed at the back of his neck, suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah, if you want.” He bit his lip and continued on playfully, “Like you said, I made a pretty crappy rescuer—you ended up having to beat them all up yourself. Really, the least I can do is buy you an ice cream.”

After only a moment’s hesitation, Ryan agreed, beeping his car unlocked. “Okay. Let’s go.”

As they drove away from the school, Chad suddenly remembered something Ryan said before. “You said you and Sharpay both take self-defense?” he asked.

“Yeah?” Ryan replied, not sure where this was going.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that not only can Sharpay ruin me socially, but she can also hand me my own ass on a plate?” Chad shuddered over-dramatically.

Ryan smiled brightly. “Oh yeah. Shar’s feral in a fight. She goes straight for the eyes.”

**Author's Note:**

> cannot believe we're writing hsm fic in 2020 absolutely wild. pop a kudos if you too are back in hsm hell almost 15 years later


End file.
